Transport Secretary comments on finalised reported road casualty statistics 2023

Cabinet Secretary for Transport Fiona Hyslop said:

“My first thoughts are with the families and friends who have tragically lost loved ones, and those whose lives are changed forever. We must never lose sight of the fact that one death on our roads is one too many. These figures confirm the provisional statistics from earlier this year, and we have already noted the challenges we face in 2024 with regards to meeting our casualty reduction targets.

“I want to be clear that road safety remains a priority for the Scottish Government and that is why we are investing a record £36m this financial year to deliver a wide range of initiatives aimed at improving driver behaviour and ultimately reducing the number of casualties on our roads. We are absolutely committed to working with road safety partners to reach our ambitious goal of having the best road safety performance in the world by 2030 and a long-term goal where no one is seriously injured or killed on our roads by 2050.

“This investment covers campaigns to encourage a change in behaviours around speeding and seat belt use, funding to help local authorities enhance road safety performance on local roads and advancing the use of technology to tackle driver distraction. We will also carry out a public consultation to explore views on potential changes to national speed limits on Scotland’s roads, as well as roll out training around the Safe System approach to road safety for our key operational partners and stakeholders.

“The Scottish Government commitment to achieving its goal of making Scotland’s roads the safest in the world by 2030 is unwavering. This comprehensive package of measures over the coming financial year is aimed at helping to deliver this.”